Posted on 02/06/2003 4:35:25 PM PST by blam
Female circumcision tradition has deep roots
February 06 2003 at 05:53AM
By Coumba Sylla
In parts of Senegal, where female circumcision has been practised for centuries, campaigns like the one now before African leaders in Ethiopia to end the "silent tragedy" are brushed off as misinformation.
African leaders and international organisations were taking part in a conference in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday set to end with a call for zero- tolerance of the practice of female genital mutilation.
"My parents did it, and, there is no question in my mind, I am going to continue the tradition," Cherif Koundoul, a 22-year-old shopkeeper, said in the town of Kolda, in south-eastern Senegal where female genital mutilation is still practised, despite being banned in the West African country since 1999.
'Originally a pagan tradition'
Many African families have their daughters circumcised because they believe it is a religious obligation under Islam - a belief dismissed by a Muslim cleric in Kolda.
"As far as I know, the Koran does not recommend this practice. People tend to say that an uncircumcised woman is 'impure' in religious terms, and yet there are many pious people who do not excise their women," said Imam Thierno Mamadou Saliou Ba.
German researcher Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, who has conducted a study on female genital mutilation, also dismissed the idea that circumcising females was required by Islam - or any other religion.
"Originally a pagan tradition, female excision developed long before the monotheist religions," she said.
In Senegal, official figures published in 2001 put the number of women who undergo female genital mutilation at 20 percent of the female population.
'She promised to give us bananas if we didn't cry'
But in the town of Kolda in the southern Zuguinchor province, that rises to 88 percent, and in some areas in the north of the country, 100 percent, according to Senegal's national action plan for stopping female genital mutilation.
That plan sets 2005 as a target date for eradicating female circumcision in Senegal. But organisations working on the ground say that while the goal of wiping out female genital mutilation is a noble one, it will probably not be met.
"It's all well and good to set a deadline, but the problem is to get the people to understand that excision is detrimental to women's health," said Abdourahmane Fall, head of regional social services in Kolda.
"None of the 'official declarations' stopping the practice have any effect. Excision is still widely practised in some villages that claim to have 'laid down the knife'," he said.
"There is no point in acting too quickly, in being intolerant or demanding that people stop doing something that has been around for so long," said Mbow Maria Laura Mastrogiacomo, who works for a Senegalese-German project against female genital mutilation.
Kamor Diante, a 37-year-old businessman in Kolda, said he did "not agree with the law against excision". "It's a feminist war. Despite all that's been said, people will still practise excision because they have their own reasons."
The father of a boy, Diante said that if he had daughters he would let his wife decide if they should be circumcised.
Diarra Diallo, a 26-year-old Senegalese woman who was circumcised at the age of eight, vividly remembers the painful experience and vows never to put her own daughters through it. "Had someone asked me before, I wouldn't be circumcised," said Diallo, who was led to the "excision house" with her sister, then aged only five.
"I remember that day well. My mother woke us up and told us to get dressed because she was taking us somewhere. We had to be nice," she said in Kolda. "She promised to give us bananas if we didn't cry."
Her family, a polygamous household with 11 children, moved to Senegal from neighbouring Guinea to the south, where the traditional practice of cutting girls' genital organs remains widespread.
"We found ourselves in a house," Diallo said. "There were nine girls. We stayed there for two weeks, watched over by an old woman who carried out the circumcisions."
Diallo did not want to discuss details of the operation, which is faced by about two million African girls a year and on Tuesday became the object of a summit of African leaders and international organisations meeting in Addis Ababa.
"One girl had to be excised twice," Diallo said. "Once it's done, it's done. You don't talk about it again."
When Diallo's father, who was out of town at the time, heard of what had happened, he flew into a rage because "he thought my younger sister was too young for it".
And herself?
"He didn't mind. It was 'normal' for my age," she said.
"Afterwards they told me it was 'beneficial', that it was 'a good thing' that would prevent sexual straying. "But today I understand the price one has to pay. I've seen the harmful side - and not just by moving around in medical circles."
The leaders gathered in the Ethiopian capital are expected to declare today a "world day of zero-tolerance for female genital mutilation".
The effects of the practice can range from severe pain to haemorrhaging, infection, cysts and abscesses, incontinence, painful sex, difficult childbearing and even death.
That's why Diarra, not yet married or with children, will not have her daughters circumcised, if she can help it.
According to the young Senegalese woman, what is needed "are not laws - that's too European and wouldn't prevent circumcisions being done".
"It would be better to promote social awareness, show the exact outcome
...or some very harsh penaties. (like cutting the father's dick off)
Hey, that might work!
I guess you missed the parts of the article where women said they supported it. It not just the fathers that are carrying this out and not all fathers think it is acceptable.
I saw a doumentary on PBS about it and all adult membes of the family were involved. A man came to the house, a girl about 9 was held while the circumcision was done, then while she lay in bed crying and asking how could you do this to me, all members of the family told her to be quiet and accept it. That included the mother and the grandmother.
This is not a feminist issue. It is a cultural issue and it needs to be stopped.
Not sure you were trying to portray that way but your post comes off as if men are the only ones in favor of this. Certainly, there are men that are against it and women that are for it.
Yup. I'm sure you're correct.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.